Took the fuses out and put them back in. Radiator seems to have a slight leak but a bit of radweld should sort that. Tax sorted. Insurance sorted. Breakdown cover sorted.

We were a bit disappointed with our initial paint effort and decided to go for the complete Starsky and Hutch.  Unfortunately this would involve changing the colour on the log book which takes a week.

So we went for an Italian Style Bluesky and Hutch look.

If you haven’t already given – we’re raising money for a good cause – the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.  You can help us by visiting our Just Giving site.

After jacking up the front and taking the wheels off we inspected the brake pads.  Enough meat on them to cover the Alps and the Pyrenees with ease.

Next we tackled an oil change.  This proved difficult.  John had forgotten the oil, so he and Martin went back to get it, taking the beast to warm her up.  The 20 mile round trip killed the indicators.  The boys later claimed to have reached 85mph without any rattling or judder – a feat that I find difficult to believe.  Too much diesel fumes from blowing exhaust I thing.

Changed the fuel filter, oil filter and air filter.

These looked more like blockers than filters.

The new air filter alone should give us another 10 horse power.

Next we turned to aesthetics.  Obviously we did not want to spoil the natural beauty of the beast so we opted for the name of our sponsor up the side, a go faster stripe down the middle and, of course, the names of the drivers and navigators.

Despite a bit of rain falling – I’m sure you’ll agree the finished effect is fantastic.

Now all we need to do is fix the indicators – or not – and were fit to go!

 

 

Yesterday I caught some of Tony Adams’ appearance on Radio 4’s Desert Island Disks.  He was quite an interesting bloke.  The more he talked about his alcohol problems the more guilty I felt about some of the chants I’d delivered at him (along with a few thousand others).

Sorry Tony.

You were going through a tough time and I should have been more sensitive to this.

Just spent 20 minutes on the phone too herts insurance - apparently they specialise in rally and short term insurance only to be told a the end that they won't cover us for Northern Ireland. Might of let me know at start. It's not like I moved half way through the call.
So - anyone want to insure 4 blokes in their 30s, no convictions, disabilities etc. All with access to their own car.
Start Belfast, end Barcelona.
Car 1993 mercedes 300D bought for £220.

After an evening of Kebabs and a day of off-roading, car testing and extreme sport as described in part 1 it was time to go out and relax around Manchester.

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I once worked a summer in Torquay. This is on the English riviera.
I've been to the Irish riviera near Dublin. I believe Eddy Irvine and Bono have houses their.
There are spanish and Italian rivieras.
None of these are the riviera. Stretching from Perpignon on the Spanish border to Monte Carlo on the Italian border this stretch of coastline has it all.
Beatiful beaches, wine, food, fantastic roads, mountains, sailing, skiing and all year round great weather. I've visited Monte Carlo in Febuary when you can see sunbathers on the beach and snow on the mountains.
On arrival last week we ate moules frites on the promenade at Antibes outside at 10pm in the warm night air. Perfect.
The roads around the coast twist and turn through the mountains. One day I'll bring my bike.
If you've got the money - move here.
If you haven't - take a trip.

The easyjet rental site said fo 10 euros more I could get an alpha or equivalent. I hardly call a Renault modus equivalent.
The speed limit on sections of French motorways is 130kmh. This heap struggled to reach that. Engine so gutless I thought it was a diesel.
Handling is like a lump of jelly and a gust of wind nearly blows you over.
Verdict: pants.

A spot of Golf, kebabs and drinking gave us the opportunity of testing Dave’s new defender.

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After a few beers Martin and I decided that we would but a mini and enter some rallies.  Perhaps even the world rally.  Basically we wanted to do this -

I owned a mini when I was younger and loved driving it and Martin had driven one once.  Also, I have fixed just about everything that could go in it as anyone who remembers my 1975 clubman estate would testify.  It was held together by insulation tape and ran on WD40.

It will also fit in my garage – my wife tells me I can buy anything that fits in my garage.

We checked a couple on Ebay and found we could buy a 90’s mini in repairable condition for around £500.  I calculated bringing it up to scratch with roll cages etc. would cost another £2K and then another £500 for a trailer.

We checked out some local events and they all talked about this Group A and Group N stuff.

There are 3 categories we could enter-

Group A -  this seems to be production cars that are highly modified - basically you can do pretty much what you want.

Group N - unmodified production cars - you can do some minor stuff around suspension but not much in terms of performance.  May get away with a stage 1 tune which is a modified exhaust and tune.

Historic - an old car.

To race I think you have to have a car that has been Homologised (such as a mini cooper S) or (re-)built to the homogenised spec – so I think you can take a standard 1969 mini and rebuilt to cooper s.  So for minis that pretty much puts you in historic.

Here are the Homologation papers - http://mk1-performance-conversions.co.uk/homologation_papers.htm

There seem to be a list of historic homologations here - http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/1906603385__Historic_Pre_Homologations_a.pdf

And current ones here - http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/Pages/Homologations.aspx

Unfortunately old mini coopers now seem to go for about 20K.  We might get a 1970’s 1275GT though.  My mate had one of these and I remember it was a rocket.  He sold it for about £500!

Then all we need  is to empty my garage, find the money and time and were in business.